Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 04-03-16

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From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Statements by the speaker of the TGNA on Cyprus.

[02] UN holds derogations key.

[03] Turkish and European legal experts discussed the issue of the derogations as regards the Cyprus problems.

[04] The newly established "National Solidarity Council" protested in front of Denktas' Palace and called him to resign.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Statements by the speaker of the TGNA on Cyprus

Arinc said that the negotiation process in Cyprus is continuing successfully, despite views to the contrary. Arinc remarked that the last word will be uttered by the Turkish Grand National Assembly, but when the issue is brought before the parliament, the outcome of the referendum will influence this decision.

He said: "The TGNA will pay attention to two aspects in this regard. First, the question of whether this is in line with our national interests. Second, the outcome to be displayed by the people in Cyprus in the referendum is naturally important. The result to be displayed by the Turkish entity in Cyprus in the referendum will personally affect me. A `yes´ or `no´ outcome could affect me. I am not saying that this influence would be absolute, but there will probably be a relative influence."

[02] UN holds derogations key

"The United Nations may provide an instant solution to the deadlock on how to integrate provisions of a Cyprus agreement into the basic treaties of the European Union, if enough political will is garnered.

The issue is at the heart of discussions on the future of the divided island of Cyprus as it is counting weeks to officially become a member of the European Union. The Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides have been meeting for U.N.-brokered reunification talks in an effort to reach a solution before the May 1 deadlock, when the EU accession of Cyprus formally takes place.

The Turkish side insists that provisions of the agreement to be reached in Cyprus be included in the EU's "primary law," a term denoting the treaty basis of the EU, which comprises the Treaty on the European Union, the Treaty establishing the European Community and the European Convention on Human Rights.

But the EU says the process is not practical because of the time pressure. According to the Turkish side, provisions on the founding agreement of the United Cyprus Republic that will hopefully come out of ongoing talks should be ratified in each and every parliament of the EU member countries so that they become part of the primary law.

Such a legal guarantee of exemption from the EU law is critical because otherwise some points of the Cyprus agreement may be challenged through court action in the future.

One such exemption, or derogation, for instance, could be a limitation on the number of Greek Cypriots who could return to the Turkish north following an agreement. Any such limitation would be against the EU principle of freedom of movement and could be subject to a future legal action, thus jeopardizing the entire settlement.

But the EU says the ratification in national parliaments is a process that will take more time than ever foreseen and that will be full of previously unpredicted obstacles, which makes it virtually impossible to accomplish under the tight May 1 timetable.

And the option that the EU appears to be suggesting, which falls short of inclusion of the derogations in EU primary law, is seen insufficient as a legal guarantee by the Turkish side.

UN path: The way out?

The Turkish and EU sides are still unable to find a formula that will guarantee that terms of the Cyprus settlement on the basis of the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's plan will remain intact after Cyprus enters the EU. Legal experts are expected to discuss a remedy that the EU laws allow.

But the solution may be outside of the EU framework and could turn out to be more political than legal, according to western diplomats. Article 25 of the UN Charter commits all members of the United Nations to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council and according to the Article 103 of the same Charter, obligations of the member countries under the UN Charter shall prevail over "their obligations under any other international agreement" in the event of a conflict between the two.

Given this legal background, a resolution by the UN Security Council attributed to the Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which deals with threat to international security, can provide an express solution to the deadlock.

Hence, the following sentence in a UN Security Council resolution attributed to the Chapter VII would prevail over any international agreement, including the EU's primary law, and thus open the way out of the derogations deadlock between Brussels and Ankara:

"The Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, decides that in the event of a conflict between the provisions of the Foundation Agreement of the United Cyprus Republic and the obligations of the United Cyprus Republic under any international agreement other than the Charter of the United Nations, including the Treaty on the European Union, the Treaty Establishing the European Community and the European Convention on Human Rights, the provisions of the Foundation Agreement shall prevail."

Political cost

But although avoiding lengthy talks focusing on the highly technical aspects of the EU laws, a solution through the UN Security Council would come at the cost of intense political effort and would require strong political will on the part of Turkey in order to convince the Council on the merits of passing such a resolution.

A minimum of nine affirmative votes in the 15-member Security Council are required to get such a resolution passed, provided that none of the five permanent members opposes.

That "express" mechanism of UN Security Council making laws has been existing for decades but has not been used during the Cold War era. In the post-Cold War era, Resolution 1031 of the UN Security Council, dated December 15, 1995, helped avoid several controversial aspects of the Dayton Agreement in former Yugoslavia that would otherwise be difficult and time-consuming to settle.

In a similar way, Resolution 1373, dated September 28, 2001, instantly provided the legal grounds for the post-September 11 fight against terrorism without waiting for ratification by UN members of an international convention that would commit world countries to fight against terrorism."

[03] Turkish and European legal experts discussed the issue of the derogations as regards the Cyprus problems

[04] The newly established "National Solidarity Council" protested in front of Denktas' Palace and called him to resign

As the paper writes the Council gave a written statement to Mr Denktas with NSC's positions, calling on the Turkish Cypriot leader to resign from his "office". Mr Denktas said after receiving the statement that he will resign if he has to. In addition he said, referring to the Cyprus talks, that everything will be done by the 22nd of March and after this date Turkey and Greece "will finish the job", as he said. He added that according to him nothing will change on the four-party talks. The Turkish Cypriot leader also said that he and Mehmet Ali Talat will see what is going to come out from the negotiations and decide what to do accordingly.

Mr Denktas also said that if the Turkish Cypriot side says 'no' to the referendum, the pseudostate will continue to exist and the contacts with the European Union will continue. Commenting on the flag presented for the United Cyprus if a solution is found, Denktas stated that this is not their flag. "Our flag is the flag of Turkey and the flag of our 'state'", he said. He added that nobody is preventing peace from Cyprus, because "peace came to Cyprus in 1974", as he said.

/SK

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